Sunday, February 28, 2010

I forgot to post these pics last weekend. Graham earned his Bear badge in Cub Scouts. This is our cake for the cake raffle. It's one of the easier ones we've made, but it turned out to be one of the best. He won the best animal lookalike award.

We got a couple more inches of snow last night. Ever since Graham went polar bear camping, he has decided he loves the snow and wants to be in it all the time. So we went out and made a snowman. Today he wants to tackle a snow fort.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

I've decided that since I got this job as the librarian at my school, I'd like to actually read the books in the library. I was reluctant to read young adult fiction because, well, I don't really know why. Stephen King and gruesome stuff has always been my thing. Jr. High students at my school are required to read AR books. Many of them do not read outside of school and have no idea what to get. Some DO read but don't know what would be a good next book. I was stuck on my own adult paranormal romance kick and didn't want to spend my time reading "little kid" books. However, I started reading books from my library just for the purpose of recommending them to jr. high students. To my surprise I've found many of them excellent and "unputdownable." I'd just like to recommend a couple to you.

Deadline by Chris Crutcher. This author writes a lot of sports books and I thought this would be one, too. It is, but it's also so much more. It's the story of a senior in high school who finds out he has one year to live. He decides to forgo treatment and keep his illness a secret from everyone. He spends his last year doing things he wasn't brave enough to do before he got sick. I don't want to give anymore away, but I'll just say that there were lots of tears at the end. This was a super book. I've been recommending it to boys (I usually read more "girly" books).

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. This is a disturbing book about an anorexic girl's obsession with her caloric intake and family issues. After her friend dies, her health deteriorates severely. This was a fast read and a very good book.

Finally, I'll leave off with Identical by Ellen Hopkins. This is about a pair of twins who both have major problems at home, at school, and, with their peer relationships. I couldn't believe some of what happened in this book. It's hard to imagine such "worldly" teenagers, but I guess they're out there. The end of this book had a twist that made me gasp.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Modifications to the Alpaca Earflap Hat--Be warned--this is my first time writing instructions out.

1. I reversed the design on one earflap so that the open part of the "claws" or whatever you call the design would both be toward the face.

2. I double knitted the earflaps. Based on previous experience, I knew the earflaps would stick out like Pippi Longstocking's hair in just plain stockinette, so I decided to try double knitting them. I had never double knit before. The process itself wasn't so hard, but when I threw in the reversal of the design and the whole thing gave me fits. It took two days to knit the two earflaps.

This is a chart of the right earflap in double knitting. I can't figure out how to number the rows beside the boxes. The bottom row is Row 1 and so on like usual. I increased the black on its knit side by knitting in the front and back of the stitch. I increased the gray on its knit side by casting one on using backwards loop. The right side is the black side.

KB=Knit Black

PB=Purl Black

KG=Knit Gray

PG=Purl Gray

K2tog

K2tog

K2tog

K2tog

K2tog

K2tog

KG/PB

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KB/PG

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KB/PG

This is the left earflap. The black side is the right side here, too. I hope this is right. The "claw" is facing the other way. Reversing this and double knitting is one of the hardest knitting things I've ever done.

K2tog

K2tog

K2tog

K2tog

K2tog

K2tog

PB/KG

PG/KB

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PG/KB

PG/KB

3. I changed the arrangement of the cast-on stitches. 18 stitches for the front was REALLY not enough. I ended up casting on 38 stitches for the front and 32 for the back.

4. I changed the top decreases and added an I-cord top. In black only:

Round 1: Knit even

Round 2: Knit even

Rounds 3 and every odd row thru 17: [K4 K2tog] repeat to end

Rounds 4 and every even row thru 18: Knit even

Rounds 19 and 20: [K2tog] repeat to end

5. To stop the front and back from curling, I picked up stitches, knitted in garter stitch for 2 rows, and then bound off.

IF/WHEN I knit this hat again, I will make the following changes:

1. Knit first 2 or 3 rows in 1x1 rib to stop the stockinette curl.

2. Use size 7 needles after the earflaps because the hat is a tad too tight.